It’s the end of the line for the LK-99 superconductor

In this week’s round-up of the best New Scientist stories, I bring you news of the impending robot apocalypse, a good reason for dumping wood in the ocean, and hints for staying young. But before that, here’s why LK-99 is so over.

LK-99: Mounting evidence suggests material is not a superconductor

The last few weeks have been a wild ride when it comes to superconductors. After researchers announced that a material they called LK-99 was able to let electrical current flow with no resistance, at both room temperature and ambient pressure, the internet exploded into excitement. Other scientists quickly scrambled to investigate, and now a clearer picture seems to be emerging – unfortunately, LK-99 is not the wonder material some hoped .

Will sinking tonnes of wood into the ocean help tackle climate change?

A bunch of start-ups are getting into the carbon-removal business, aiming to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and sell carbon credits to other businesses, while also hopefully tackling climate change. My colleague James Dinneen takes a look at efforts by one firm, US-based Running Tide , which some researchers say is getting ahead of the science.

Bots are better at beating ‘are you a robot?’ tests than humans are

That’s it, we’re doomed. I’m sure everyone reading this has been frustrated by a CAPTCHA at some point, otherwise known as the “are you a robot?” test. Well, now it seems the robots are actually better at passing these tests than we humans . I’m just not sure how I’ll ever know who is real on the internet again.

More from New Scientist

• I love this story about small fish hiding behind larger fish to hunt their prey , and the accompanying photo is brilliant.
• Our magazine cover story this week is all about your “ageotype ” – how your body is ageing in one of four ways, and why that matters for your health
• Speaking of ageing, in a couple of weeks we’re running an online event, free for New Scientist subscribers, about efforts to slow or even reverse the biological march of time. Get your tickets here .

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Jacob Aron ,?News Editor